The Armies of Guild Wars - The Undead

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ArenaNet gets all wormy as they dig up the lifeless denizens of the swamp for your enjoyment.

By ArenaNet

The race to claim the massively multiplayer market is in full swing. For many of them, grabbing a piece of the market seems to involve incorporating different kinds of gameplay experiences that should appeal to other types of gamers rather than those willing to wait around for the next spawn.

ArenaNet not only is creating Guild Wars as a role-playing game that's more action oriented, PvP, and team-based than any other fantasy themed MMO out there, but also is introducing a different kind of business model that eliminates the monthly fee usually associated with these titles.

But perhaps one of the coolest things about the game is that they're taking the time to create new races and environments with a beautiful art style. If you've seen any of the screens or movies, you'll see the work of some very talented artists and designers. Over the next few weeks before Guild Wars releases to the public, we'll be profiling the different armies located throughout the world and what makes them different. In fact, we've already profiled the animalistic Charr, a violent group of creatures that hang out in the Wastes.

Today ArenaNet will be taking us on a tour of the mighty Undead who, along with their terrible appearance, are adept at magic and the martial arts. As you'll see below, ArenaNet has done a great job really making these creatures stylistically complimentary while keeping them unique from other races. Take a look at the concept art and then the final in-game scenes and characters to get a good idea of where the design started and where it finished. Also make sure to take a look at the two videos showing off the animations for various Undead units as well as some in-game action of the Undead hard at work trying to swell their ranks. There's a couple of links to the lower res Windows Media Versions immediately below this paragraph, but you can find higher res versions in the media section. And while you're in the media section, you can check out ArenaNet's new Guild Wars trailer as well.

When players first discover the land of Kryta, they learn that the last pristine human kingdom on the continent of Tyria is crawling with the undead. All manner of corrupt beings have invaded this beautiful coastal region, infesting the dark damp areas and turning once beautiful wetlands into putrid, festering swamps. Where they touch, the waters turn poisonous, and the air becomes thick with disease. Though the walking dead feel more at ease in these befouled fens, they have come not to make a new home for themselves, but to lay claim to an ancient artifact &#Array; one that can give them tremendous power. The player's task will be to keep them from getting it.

Swamp concept

Swamp in-game

The undead army is a walking plague. Their strength is your weakness&#Array;literally. Skeletal spellcasters soften up opponents with hexes, diseases, and even a pox or two. Then, once you're weak, blind, and crippled, they send in the brute squad to mop up. In addition, the undead possess a bevy of immunities. Because they lack internal organs, they don't suffer from heart stoppages, poison in the blood, or airborne illnesses, so damaging them can be a difficult proposition. And as if that weren't enough, if you're among the unlucky who fall under the undead army's assault, their necromancers will raise minions from your corpse.

Undead army

The undead are extremists; they are either very intelligent or completely mindless. Because of this disparity, animating the army proved to be quite a difficult task. Those without flesh have no musculature, so they are not as bound by gravity or inertia as a human character. The power of their spells literally courses through their bones. The animators really tried to emphasize the fact that those who cast spells are on the high end of the intelligence curve. Look closely at the mannerisms of the mounted warlock or the damned cleric: you can see a great amount of power and majesty (and a fair bit of suffering as well) in their spell-casting movements. They clearly have a calm sense of their origins, of self, and of their own inherent superiority, which they convey through posture, gesture, and their actions during battle.

Warlock Concept

Warlock in-game

Damned Cleric Concept

Damned Cleric in-game

In contrast to the Charr army, the undead rely heavily on minions to do their dirty work. They have a more strategic, intelligent approach to combat, and the strategies required to defeat them will be more complex than those used against the bestial Charr. Players are going to be in for a rude awakening if they try to blindly rush an executioner, expecting to be able to stand toe to toe. A successful team will evaluate what they are up against, choose a course of action, and execute in an organized fashion. Those who don't will likely end up as a hellhound biscuit.

Excecutioner concept

Excecutioner in-game

Hell Hound concept

Hell Hound in-game

Of course, any evaluation of the undead army would be incomplete without an account of the "Big Bad"&#Array;the bone dragon. In death, this beast is more than five times the height of a man&#Array;over thirty feet long. When it was raised from the grave, its powerful front claws pulled its tremendous girth out of the soil with such force that it tore its own body in half. In unlife, it drags itself across the ground, spitting putrescence and ravaging all who dare get within reach.

Bone Dragon concept

Bone Dragon in-game

Now make sure to keep checking back for more Armies of Guild Wars features as the game approaches release.